posted at 4:41 pm on November 1, 2013 by Allahpundit

I forget sometimes that posts about Beltway infighting can be a bit too inside-baseball for people who follow politics casually, so let’s get everyone on the same page. The NRSC is, as almost everyone knows, the main GOP committee responsible for getting Republicans elected to the Senate. In theory it’s concerned only with helping GOP nominees beat Democrats in the general election but in practice it’s regarded as an incumbent/establishment protection outfit. The most notorious example I can think of offhand is when the NRSC endorsed, ahem, Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio early in the 2010 Florida primary campaign. The Senate Conservatives Fund is the PAC founded by Jim DeMint that helped spearhead the “defund ObamaCare” effort last month. It’s dedicated to electing “true conservative”/tea party candidates to Congress, even if that means primarying Republican D.C. mainstays. In fact, they’ve already endorsed Mitch McConnell’s primary challenger in Kentucky. Under pressure to swear off the group, Ted Cruz reportedly promised his GOP Senate colleagues this week that, although he’s a favorite of the SCF and worked with them on “defund,” he won’t help them fundraise to defeat Republican incumbents.

In other words, you’ve got the most influential GOP establishment fundraising arm declaring war on the most influential grassroots tea-party fundraising arm, which has already declared war on the establishment. It’s an unusually visible expression of the tension that’s been building all year between grassroots righties on the one hand and centrists and business interests on the other. “Defund” and the shutdown are what finally brought it way out into the open, and a bunch of major players in the Senate, including/especially McConnell, Cruz, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee, are caught in the middle.

Can this coalition be saved?

In a warning shot to outside conservative groups, the National Republican Senatorial Committee this week informed a prominent Republican advertising firm that it would not receive any contracts with the campaign committee because of its work with a group that targets incumbent Senate Republicans.

Even more striking, a senior official at the committee called individual Republican Senate campaigns and other party organizations this week and urged them not to hire the firm, Jamestown Associates, in an effort to punish them for working for the Senate Conservatives Fund, a group founded by Jim DeMint, then a South Carolina senator, that is trying to unseat Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and some other incumbents up for re-election next year whom it finds insufficiently conservative…

“This is happening because Mitch McConnell is having a complete meltdown,” said Matt Hoskins, executive director of the conservative group. “He can’t defend his record so he’s threatening and attacking everyone who disagrees with him. He’s so rattled, he has decided to declare war on the entire conservative movement, which represents the very people he needs to win re-election. This isn’t the behavior of a confident person. It’s the irrational reaction of a power-hungry bully who isn’t getting his way.”…

“S.C.F. has been wandering around the country destroying the Republican Party like a drunk who tears up every bar they walk into,” said Josh Holmes, Mr. McConnell’s chief of staff, now detailed to the National Republican Senatorial Committee through the election. “The difference this cycle is that they strolled into Mitch McConnell’s bar and he doesn’t throw you out, he locks the door.”

In other words, it’s a secondary boycott of Jamestown Associates aimed at scaring people away from working with the SCF, replete with phone calls to GOP candidates to urge the boycott on them too. And when I say it’s “unusually visible,” I mean it: Check out NRSC strategist Brad Dayspring’s Twitter feed this afternoon. Yowza.

The strategy, obviously, is to crush the SCF by starving them of donors. Republican candidates and big-money establishment donors are essentially being told by the NRSC that it’s “us or them.” If you’re someone who craves influence on the Hill, choosing the tea-party group over the group that backs the Senate minority leader (who might well be majority leader next year) is … risky. Meanwhile, the message to grassroots small-money donors is that giving money to the SCF is kinda sorta like giving it to Democrats because, in some cases, the group is working against the most “electable” Republican in the primary. On the one hand, that’s a shrewd play; “purity” is the SCF’s biggest asset, so framing them as a liberal stalking horse will damage them if the idea catches on. On the other hand, this is the same group that once thought Crist was more electable than Rubio. Either way, the NRSC is now forcing people, including consultant firms, to take sides between the two. This seems unhelpful to party unity in the midst of a big ObamaCare meltdown, but the answer to that, I guess, is that primarying incumbents like Mitch McConnell is “unhelpful” in some ways too. A noteworthy development in the “GOP civil war” chronicles, regardless. Let the RINO/tea party battle be joined.

Odds of all this sturm and drang resulting in a permanent Republican schism and a third party: 30 percent, I’d guess, up from 20 a week ago. Exit question: Do RINO consultant firms get blacklisted too? Ask Liz Mair.

Boycott anybody you want to establishment,but when we boycott you in November it will mean you will never boycott anone again!Start looking for a new line of work.Even if a relatively small number of us join the 8 million who stayed home in 2008 the GOP is finished!

No way do all these companies together need 20 million IT and engineers, but they are lobbying for amnesty for the 20 million mainly under educated illegals already here. There is a lie somewhere

If Coca Cola needs warehouse workers, an ad in the local paper would fill the slots. Someone I know who works at CVS told me their hours were cut to the bone, sometimes only one person in the store outside of pharmacy. They need to import workers to do register?

How stupid do they think we are? Seems they are trying to break down citizen control of Congress, so America can be run for and by their interests only

CVS will be able to hire full time amnesty card workers, without paying obamacare fines, and we will pick up the tab for the amnesty card medical bills, on top of the tax and penalties of the personal mandate, which the amnesty card workers will not have to pay

I am at the point where I would agree the Democrats were right about big business, except the Democrats are now on the same side as big business

I seem to recall a certain Cap’n Ed of old that ran a streak of “not one thin dime” to the GOPe. Good times then, but bought and paid for by same masters. Oh well, not one thin dime from me to the GOPe but SCF can continue to expect more than a few dimes from me. That and other grassroots conservatives.

RINOs seem to have same affliction as their beloved liberals: short memories. Wasn’t it obvious last 2 elections that money alone does not get one elected? TEA Party supported candidates, with much smaller funds defeated really well funded RINOs. Seems GOP is now going to throw tons of money (literally) to re-elect McConnell, this should be an interesting race and we should make every effort to beat him in the primary.

The Whigs died because they refused to take sides concerning the wedge issue of the day — slavery.

Now, we have a whole wing of the Republican Party which refuses to take sides concerning Obamacare, the first new entitlement to come along in decades. The Republicans have always been against entitlements, but certainly failed in their efforts to prevent Social Security and Medicare. But entitlements are the ultimate creation of Big Government, and anyone who wants to decrease the size of Government must oppose them.

Once an entitlement has taken root, it’s very hard, if not impossible, to get rid of it. We talk about reforming Social Security because it was such a bad idea to begin with, but generations have paid into it and to terminate it without providing a means to make those previous contributors whole will never fly. We talk about reforming Medicare because Medicare destroyed the medical marketplace for seniors, and there is no replacement — what insurance company wants to take over providing insurance for a very high risk pool?

Now comes Obamacare, which will reshape the insurance marketplace in ways sure to raise prices and decrease choice. But once the exchanges are in operation, and are feeding a steady flow of customers to the insurance companies, we will be hard pressed to be rid of it, for the insurance companies will have adjusted their risk models to accommodate reality — even if that reality has young people refusing to enroll until they have a pre-existing condition. Nobody will want their carefully constructed profit models to change, and so us consumers will be stuck with the giant albatross.

It’s probably a better idea to win against beatable Democrats than to beat up existing Republicans (except for McCain).

NoPain on November 2, 2013 at 11:17 AM

Yeah, but she derives that idea from her opinion, that there was nothing wrong with the Bush years. Ann is a good lil party soldier and thinks that there is a world of difference between Democrats and Republicans. If you dont believe that people like McConnell, who were already in the leadership during the Bush years, are part of the DC problem, you might as well leave them in power.

This Dayspring guy is now saying on his twitter account that the NRSC stays out of open primaries, which is demonstrably untrue. It openly endorsed Charlie Crist and Trey Grayson, it also jointly fundraised with Carly Fiorina.

Dear Grand Old Problem: You are choosing to use the wrong page from the Democrat playbook, although I understand your desire to maintain your gravy/power train. Once again you are misjudging a great many of your constituents.

Dear Grand Old Problem: You are choosing to use the wrong page from the Democrat playbook, although I understand your desire to maintain your gravy/power train. Once again you are misjudging a great many of your constituents

RINOs led the GOP for decades, with conservative support, and screwed it up BIG time. Its soon time to give conservatives their due and allow the GOP to become conservative again.

What’s happening is so reminiscent of Gandhi: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” We are definitively in the fighting stage.

plaidsheetman on November 1, 2013 at 7:09 PM
……………
Great post. Mitch the bitch is going nowhere.
Most of the hardcore conservatives I know, and I know a lot of them, stopped funding the RNC/GOP or any of the rino groups long ago.
I was all out for Rubio here in S. Fla. when he came on the scene. Now he doesn’t exist to me.
It’s just too easy to fund each and every individual conservative candidate and be done with the big rino groups who wouldn’t recognize a conservative if he slapped the upside the head. Which is what we are about to do.

Boycott anybody you want to establishment,but when we boycott you in November it will mean you will never boycott anyone again!Start looking for a new line of work.Even if a relatively small number of us join the 8 million who stayed home in 2008 the GOP is finished!

redware on November 1, 2013 at 7:17 PM
……………………….
Uhhh…… sorry but I’m not in the self-destruction mode. It’s a lot more pragmatic to take over the GOP which is what we will do. You sit home and suck your thumb if you want while we have to deal with the obama/punks you give us. Those of us in the real world will fight the good fight. Just stay out of the way if you can’t play.

Uhhh…… sorry but I’m not in the self-destruction mode. It’s a lot more pragmatic to take over the GOP which is what we will do. … Those of us in the real world will fight the good fight. Just stay out of the way if you can’t play.

rodguy911 on November 2, 2013 at 5:20 PM

A traitor in your midst is more dangerous than a thousand soldiers in the field arrayed against you. Low information voters are just smart enough to know that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. Do you understand the problem here?

We ‘purists’ are called that because we actually have principles and we do our best to stick to them. People like John McCain and his ilk might as well be real-world Manchurian Candidates for all the damage they have done to our Republic. But, yeah, fight the good fight. Elect lesser Republican scumbags instead of greater Democrat scumbags!

Without endorsing any particular religion, people like Mr. Dayspring have always brought two verses to my mind. I want to share them with him and anyone that thinks like him that call themselves Republicans. This is for all you pragmatic whores:

“So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” – Rev. 3:16

“‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked… – Rev. 3:17

and ‘Mark 8:36’ is always a good question.

Your time is over, Dayspring. The Republican establishment has not only become indistinguishable from the Democrats…You often help their causes.
No More. I have never been as committed to my beliefs as I am now, and it’s because of the betrayal and prostitution of the party’s beliefs by the establishment. You fellas are all done.

I am at the point where I would agree the Democrats were right about big business, except the Democrats are now on the same side as big business

It is one big gangster cartel

entagor on November 1, 2013 at 7:34 PM

The Dimocraps have been in the pocket of big business for many years. They diss that gang on a regular basis, but they are like Daniel Webster, looking for their normal graft.

How dastardly of the blackguard RINOs to actually fight back!

What a cold-hearted gang, they know full well that counter-punching causes all the fringe types to wet their panties. They might even get a rash over it.

In any fair contest, only the Purity Police would get to attack the RINOs, with no defense or counterattacks allowed.

Adjoran on November 1, 2013 at 10:45 PM

Ah, normal Adjoran. Shilling for the RINO establishment and showing such contempt that the grassroots would hold your sort in such contempt. I’m sure you think you’re part of the oligarchy, but I can assure you that they hold your sort in as much contempt as Lenin and Stalin held their useful idiots.

How can anyone be surprised by this. The GOP wants to be Democratlite and have no desire to win. They enjoy being in power and not having to take responsibility as they retire with a huge pension and insurance that no one else has. If we can’t get rid of these RINOs, then it’s time for a 3rd party. People will say, well, you’re just giving the House and Senate to the Democrats. They already control it, because the RINOs give them anything they want.

What the NRSC has done is more than to blacklist a particular firm. They’ve blacklisted everyone who supports real conservatives, rather than the faux-conservative Congress-critters that serve in the Senate.

In other words, they’ve blacklisted me. Does Sen. Cornyn think I’ll forget about that when he comes shopping for my donation and my vote?

The answer is, “No, I will not forget. And Cornyn can suck eggs for all I care.

I’m almost 100% certain that Cornyn is behind this. He controls everyone’s reelection purse unless the candidate can raise money on their own. If the Tea party wants to win this, they need to defeat Cornyn. But if they don’t, then it’ll be quite miserable in Congress for a very long time.

Clearly, McConnell moved his COS to the NRSC to do his dirty work, not only in his own race but against the conservative movement as a whole.

“These are not the kind of people we would ever do business with,” said Scott Reed, senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. My, my, my, well, isn’t this special. And who handles, or handled comms for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as recently as last year, if not still? Oh, that would be the wife of McConnell’s hand picked neo-nitwit quoted in the very same story mouthing off on the part of the NRSC.

I could end this with Game on. But somehow having worked for the late Andrew Breitbart, it seems just a bit more fitting to end it with: #WAR!

NRSC communications staffer Brad Dayspring, a former spokesman for House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), told The New York Times on Friday, “We’re not going to do business with people who profit off of attacking Republicans. Purity for profit is a disease that threatens the Republican Party.”

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), a conservative who won his comeback election with no establishment support, has offered up his public support of Jamestown Associates.

John Drogin, the state director for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)—a conservative who also employs Jamestown Associates—similarly tweeted out support for the firm. “Jamestown is good firm, doing good work for conservatives, including @tedcruz,” Drogin tweeted.

Sorry Republicans but the days of holding my nose while I vote for the lesser of two weevils are over. From now on, I will vote for those who will actually go to Washington to stick to their principles.

Even more striking, a senior official at the committee called individual Republican Senate campaigns and other party organizations this week and urged them not to hire the firm, Jamestown Associates, in an effort to punish them for working for the Senate Conservatives Fund

Makes me feel like giving to the Senate Conservative Fund.

Those noble RINOs (spit), who helped drive the country into the ground, always calling for “a big tent.” They haaad to have Romney, who didn’t even want to be President. He connected with the common man as much as “looked like the guy who fired me.”